Alex Seclair: Master of Vengeance

The burial of a name

Suddenly, a sharp knock came on the door and Beatrice opened the door to two uniformed officers.

“Carlos Rodriguez?” one of the men asked.

 “Yes?” 

“You’re under investigation for theft of several Crest Cards belonging to the Dane heir. You’ll need to come with us.” 

“What? I—I don’t know anything about that!” His eyes widened as he exclaimed with disbelief.

“We have grounds to search your home.” one of the officers said, holding up a warrant.

Carlos was about to speak again when another officer slipped past and searched his delivery bag by the door. Within moments, he froze.

“Sir...” the officer said grimly. 

“It’s here.”

He pulled out two sleek, platinum crestcard access keys, the kind reserved for VIP hotel clients—each tagged and sealed. Exactly what was reported stolen.

Carlos’s blood ran cold.

“No— no! That’s not mine!” he shouted. 

“I… I didn’t put that there! Someone must’ve..”

“Save it. You have the right to remain silent...”The lead officer raised a hand to cut in.

 “No! He’s innocent! My son’s never stolen a thing in his life!” Beatrice defended.

Carlos’s head spun as handcuffs clamp tightened around his wrists. 

“This is a mistake! I didn’t do it! I swear!” His voice trailed while defending himself.

Dario’s weak cries echoed from his room as Beatrice collapsed in tears beside the officers, trying to explain, beg, plead.

But it was no use.

As Carlos was dragged out of his home, into the back of a police cruiser, a thought circled his mind.

“The host attendant… They planned this….” He said to himself after instantly realising it.

*****************

The sun set with a sick irony over Coast Wesley and a soft, golden hue bathed the city. But for Carlos, the world had never been darker.

That same day, his face was everywhere.

< Delivery Boy Turns Thief?

<Carlos Rodriguez assaults Dane Heir in Hotel Brawl!"

"Heartbroken or Criminal? 

The City reacts on every news terminal, trending across social media with Carlos’s mugshot played in loops, his reputation chewed and spat out by the hungry jaws of scandal. 

The press paraded him as a disgraced thug—violent, jealous, and desperate.

“Mr Rodriguez, is it true about your assault on Mr Dane? What do you have to say on these accusations about the million dollar crests cards found in your possession?” One of the press members threw in quizzes directed at Carlos.

But there was no utter response from him while the cops strived to get him through the crowd and into the station. 

What the media didn’t say was that Robert Dane was the son of one of the most influential families in Coast Wesley. The Danes owned properties and media channels. 

<Carlos was a jealous lowlife who tried to frame his rich friend and hurt him in a jealous rage over a woman who had outgrown him. 

With Andrea by his side, that story was already sold. That was the story the city believed.

Carlos sat silently in a holding cell, broken, devastated and  stripped of everything. 

They had seized his delivery gear and processed his file with terrifying speed. 

But when the police found he had no prior criminal record and his "assault" left Axel with only a few bruises, they couldn’t hold him longer than necessary—especially since the alleged crestcard theft was still under investigation.

“Here, have this. This is all I have on me at the moment.” He said to a cop at the front desk. 

But the cop narrowed his gaze at the few notes placed in front of him with disgust.

“You ain't serious, are you?” Carlos scratched his head in frustration at the furious question from the cop. 

“What would you have me do sir? This is all I have. I swear.” He pleaded

“That necklace on you— that would serve as a collateral. You can come back for it whenever you have the rest of the money. ” The cop whispered close to his ears, having looked around. 

But Carlos froze at the greedy cop’s alternative for a minute.

He couldn't tell if that should be counted as a favour or a thing of regret. 

So, he slowly reached his neck and took it off which the cop snatched off, shining a deceitful grin back at him.

“I see you ain't a moron after all. You can get going now.” The cop said to him.

With the leftover money he had on him and his most precious item, his necklace, to a crooked bail agent in exchange for his freedom, he bailed himself out.

“I will come back for you. I promise.” He vowed, giving one last stare at his necklace.

He had stumbled into the streets in worn-out slippers and shirt wrinkled in a giffy. But his attempt to get a cab was in vain as he ran through alleyways and side streets, panting, praying in his heart as he hoped.

And only to behold nothing but a very quiet room.

The raggedy disk by the counter playing ‘Take me home’  by Aurora, his mother’s favourite song.

“Ma…? Pa…?” He called out after forcing the door open to the apartment, only to collapse to his knees.

His father, Dario, lay on the floor, stiff and pale, oxygen mask torn off in what seemed like a frantic moment of panic. 

His hand reached toward the door as if he had tried to move. A glass vial of medicine lay shattered by his side.

And beside him was Beatrice.

The cloth was still tied around her neck while she hung from the ceiling fan, swaying slightly, face drained, lips purple, a note clutched in her hand.

Carlos screamed, wailed, howled and broke apart into pieces.

“NOOOOO!!!” He fell beside his father, trying to rouse him. 

“Pa! Wake up—please! Ma—God—NO!!”

He ripped the cloth, but it was too late. He hugged her tightly while his body trembled. The room reeked of despair and tragedy.

The note read only four words:

> “We are sorry, Carlos.”

His sobs echoed through the night, piercing the quiet of the building. 

But no one cared to come out. Not anymore, especially after the news of his arrest travelled the entire corners of the city.

****************

Later that night, Carlos sat in the cold, beside two covered bodies, his parents wrapped in old sheets like discarded history. 

His eyes were dry now—he had run out of tears. What remained was emptiness. A silence so vast it echoed in his chest. His mind spiraled. 

He’d contacted every relative he knew to reach but up to no avail.

Every frame of Robert’s betrayal, Andrea’s venom, the arrest and his family’s last breath played again while the music went on.

Then, 

A soft ding came and a faint glow pulsed in the air before him, forming a small holographic circle, hovering inches from his face.

> [SYSTEM BOOTING… REVENGE SYSTEM DETECTED.]

“...What the hell?” he exclaimed after he’d frozen for a minute.

The hologram expanded rapidly, displaying a glowing red interface with black accents and flickering digital texts.

> ACTIVATING REVENGE SYSTEM….

[Host emotional state: Betrayal | Framed | Broken]

[Status: Eligible for Redemption Protocol]

[CODE: VENGEANCE]

Carlos stood slowly with a halting breath, staring at the unreal vision before him.

> “You have lost everything.”

“You have been humiliated, abandoned, broken.”

“You were wronged.”

“This system exists for one purpose—vengeance.”

 “Why... me?” He quizzed quietly.

> “Because you are the perfect candidate. Because justice is not real. Power is.”

The screen shifted.

> Get revenge for all that has been done to you and become the ultra grand master of the SOLO REVENGE SYSTEM.

> DO YOU ACCEPT OR DENY?

The display left him speechless for a long period and left him deficit of words. And without a second of hesitation, he whispered,

“Accept.”

He’d realised he would need more than words to take on his ex best friend and ex lover turned enemies.

The interface burst into digital energy, and he felt a sharp pulse through his chest.

Then it began.

> [WELCOME HOST!!!

[MISSION: TOTAL RUIN OF TARGETS]

[DURATION: UNLIMITED.]

[APPROACH: STRATEGIC. PSYCHOLOGICAL. FINANCIAL. EMOTIONAL ELIMINATION.

He stared at the data storm before him. No one was coming to save him. He clenched his fists, eyes igniting with a hunger he had never known.

“I'm done being a victim.”

He said as the cold wind brushed through his hair.